The drag world was dealt a devastating blow last October when drag superstar Sahara Davenport died unexpectedly from heart failure. But no one felt the loss more than Davenport’s longtime boyfriend, fellow drag superstar Manila Luzon. With more than a year having passed since his boyfriend’s death, Luzon recently rode through L.A. with drag star supreme RuPaul in his latest episode of “RuPaul Drives” and spoke about life after the loss of Davenport.
“Well, it’s been really really really tough. But again, I’ve had a lot of support from fans. It was hard for me to accept at first that all of these people were, like, bombarding me with comments about the loss of Sahara and it was really hard to deal with. But it was a really awesome way of realizing just how many people know of us from the show and care about us after the show,” said Luzon.
“It’s really changed me. I mean, I’ve really grown as a person after such a huge loss. It really puts your life into perspective.” Luzon continued. “As drag queens, a lot of times we think we’re invincible because we put on the makeup and stuff and you don’t realize that you have to take your health into consideration. At the end of the day, it’s all you have.”
RuPaul went on to remind Luzon that Davenport will live on in the fan’s hearts and for eternity on TV, which Luzon took pride in.
“I try to keep her in mind whenever I do anything in drag, like, ‘what would Sahara do?’ ” said Luzon. “That was my main goal whenever I would do anything in drag. It’s really inspired me to go further.”
We applaud Luzon for finding strength and grace after Davenport’s death and we hope that she carries her lost love’s legacy for the whole world to see. Check out some other stars who lost loved ones below. – nicholas robinson
